Just when you thought development in Dubai was frozen along comes the news that construction contracts were just awarded to Arabian Construction Company for Pentominium, the tallest residential in the world at 618 metres (2027 feet) and 124 floors. At a cost of AED 1.46 billion ($USD 400 million). The total floor area will be 170,000 square meters and expected to take just 48 months to build. Currently Q1 in Australia is the tallest residential tower in the world. Aedas are the project designers.

Changchun, Jilin China is planning a 12.5 sq km(4.82 sq m) Hi-Tech development Zone to stop the brain drain of its keen entrepreneurs and skilled workers to Shanghai and Beijing. Chanchun is currently planning to build the Changchun Northeast Innovation Center as apart of the Zone to support and encourage its 27 higher learning institutions, 100 technological research institutes and over 40 laboratories.

The Hi-Tech Zone development is scheduled to finish planning and design by the end of 2009. The first phase of the development should be completed by September 2011, the 2nd phase operational in September 2013 and final stage completed in March 2015.

The Hi-Tech Zone will include R&D and production of photoelectronics, LED’s, semiconductor lasers and medical equipment. The zone will also include R&D in biological, medical, high polymer and rare earth chemistry, nano materials and special construction materials.

In April 2009, The Architecture Foundation organised three roundtable debates to examine the nature of the dramatic economic and ecological challenges facing built environment practitioners. The debates were titled – AND NOW WHAT: Rethinking Spatial Practice During Crisis. The Architecture Foundation recently posted the video on Vimeo. Interesting to watch with many valid points to think about the built environment profession.

Leighton Contractors, in an alliance with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, SKM and AECOM, has been awarded a combined $282 million contract to deliver the Eastern Busway – Buranda to Main Avenue to expand Brisbane’s unique busway network.

The Eastern Busway Alliance will design and construct the 1.05 kilometre section of busway including new busway stations at Stones Corner and Langlands Park, along with a combination of tunnels and
bridge structures.

Over 400 projects worth more than $300 billion have been placed on hold or cancelled in the United Arab Emirates due to the global financial crisis, Dubai-based research firm Proleads Global said on Tuesday.

The construction sector in the UAE will stabilise this year and is expected to show signs of recovery in 2010…